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Quebec’s provincial owned electric utility, Hydro-Québec, is planning to move forward with the next phase in its smart meter rollout. The company has filed an application with the Régie de l'énergie, the province’s energy regulator, to proceed with both the second and third stages of the rollout.

The electricity distribution system of the future is going to connect to a wide range of devices enabling the introduction of new services such as demand response, electric vehicle charging and more renewable energy integration. Making all these work together seamlessly, while maintaining grid reliability and flexibility, will require a common communications protocol.

Information and communications technologies, commonly referred to as ICTs, can be a tremendous enabler for carbon footprint reduction and cost savings, according to the Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI).

The number of North American utilities prepared for the smart grid data deluge has nearly doubled over the past year increasing from 9% to 17%, but this small minority still isn’t leveraging data to its fullest extent to improve grid operations and customer relations, according to the findings of a survey from Oracle Utilities released this morning.